The forthcoming Creative Suite 6 from Adobe will add a number of new programs and features to the collection of software, including Maestro, a cloud-based service for syncing and sharing files.

Last week, AppleInsider gave the first glimpse at CS6 with documents from an Adobe survey. Since then, confirmation from a number of independent sources has reaffirmed that the details included in that survey are legitimate.

Mentioned in the poll were new features for existing Creative Suite applications like Photoshop, Illustrator and Premiere. But the survey also offered a look at new applications that are expected to make their way into the software package.

Adobe Maestro

The new Adobe Maestro will reportedly let users "sync, store, share and review" projects stored in the cloud. The addition to Adobe's Creative Suite aims to allow participants to quickly access and share documents between multiple systems and multiple users.

"Whether you're on a tablet or your desktop, it keeps all your work in sync and gives you the freedom to work how you want, where you want, and when you want," the description in the survey reads.

Adobe Maestro allows users to capture sketches using the Adobe Ideas mobile application, which is available for both the iPhone and iPad. Work can be synced with the cloud and accessed and edited with Creative Suite.

Key features of Adobe Maestro, according to the survey, will be:
Automatically syncs when new files are created or file changes are detected.
A copy of your files is stored on Adobe's secure servers, allowing you to access them from any computer or mobile device.
Includes 100 GB of storage.
Supports all file types including audio and video formats.
Allows you to convert your creative files to formats that can be easily shared.

Adobe Helium

Adobe Helium will reportedly allow designers to create animations, widgets and other interactive content with HTML5, CSS3 and other Web standards. The first version will be based on the JQuery Web framework, allowing developers to integrate the content into a website for application.

Features of Adobe Helium, according to the survey, will include:
Open HTML documents and visually select objects to add to timelines.
Create animation timelines with customizable start and end states.
Manipulate animation properties, durations, and timings visually live on a timeline and properties panel.
Import SVG designs and use in your animations and interactive projects.
Create HTML5 Canvas regions and write procedural JavaScript to draw in the browser.
Edit CSS, HTML and JavaScript code using a simple and fast open-score code editor.
Add JavaScript code and action to specific objects using a task-based scripting workflow.
Preview your work live on a WebKit powered design surface.

Adobe Muse

Adobe Muse is a new application that will reportedly enable graphic designers to create websites based in HTML and CSS without writing code. The "free-form design software" will let users lay out a website design visually, as they might do using Photoshop, Illustrator or InDesign.

Using Adobe-hosted Web fonts will allegedly allow users to access a broad range of web-safe font types. Muse will also allow users to add dynamic elements to an HTML site with drag-and-drop widgets or embedded content. Free-form design tools will also allow users to customize the look and feel of widgets.

Muse will reportedly allow users to add content from other sites, like Google Maps or YouTube, without writing any code. They can also add a slideshow or place video without knowing any HTML.

"Muse is tightly integrated with an Adobe hosting platform so you can easily publish a trial site for testing, push the site live, make updates and manage the ongoing site," the survey reads. "You can even give your client their own admin access so that they can update their blog, monitor site traffic and more."

Adobe Time Tracker

Creative Suite 6 will also reportedly add the Time Tracker feature, which will allow users to track time spent working on files and assets directly within the suite of applications. Features of the time tracker, according to the survey, are:
Common Adobe User Interface - plug-in shares a common user interface with the Adobe Creative Suite applications.
Save Time - prevents going in and out of the Creative Suite products utilizing another tool to keep track of time spent working on files and assets track time utilizing plug-in that appears directly within the Adobe Creative Suite applications.
Creative Maintains Full Control - creative chooses whether to automatically track the time spent on files and assets or manually stop and start the time when needed.
View Status on Time Spent - provides a clear overview at anytime of time spent on files and assets associated to projects.
Extensible - can be easily integrated into a project tracking system, existing financial processes or an enterprise data analysis system.

It's sort of like how the New York Times sometimes reports on news that happens outside of New York, get it?

Seriously, of all the totally lame criticisms of Apple Insider, this one, that its name somehow restricts what it can "legitimately" report on, has to be the lamest.

(And that's even taking into account all the DED haters who don't even bother to read his articles before they come here and start complaining about them. We know they don't read the articles, because the complaints are directed at DED, not the article content.)

It's sort of like how the New York Times sometimes reports on news that happens outside of New York, get it?

Seriously, of all the totally lame criticisms of Apple Insider, this one, that its name somehow restricts what it can "legitimately" report on, has to be the lamest.

(And that's even taking into account all the DED haters who don't even bother to read his articles before they come here and start complaining about them. We know they don't read the articles, because the complaints are directed at DED, not the article content.)

Agreed.

Back to this Adobe news ... I can imagine along with constant and most times out of sequence and competing updates to Kaspersky, Windows and all else this will just add to the joy of using a PC!

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

A huge proportion of Adobe software runs on Macintoshes. Apple products represent the default hardware tool for print and digital design. By the same token, Adobe products represent the default software for much of this design.

Personally, I think the expansion of font usage through an Adobe-hosted site could really notch up beautiful on-line design...as long as Adobe doesn't get any ideas about charging outrageous fees for the service.

The forthcoming Creative Suite 6 from Adobe will add a number of new programs and features to the collection of software, including Maestro, a cloud-based service for syncing and sharing files.....

And the cloud service will cost a (relative) fortune to use, will be incompatible with all other cloud services you may already be using, and will require you to update all your Creative Suite apps on a yearly cycle at a cost of hundreds of dollars a year. It will also be immensely complicated, be designed to "work for everyone from the casual user to the imaging professional," and thus have an absolutely impenetrable UI that no one will understand.

Personally, and I have no idea of the real world consequences, I really wish Adobe would announce discontinuation for all their products on the Mac, with that space open am sure more companies would spill in with more mac like products to fill the gap.

I hope the Muse application feature that includes an Adobe hosting development site isn't based on Coldfusion, It really needs to be multi-platfom compatible. Some like php others asp.net. Rails popularity I would think is dying and Coldfusion is pretty much dead, maybe because it costs too much.

Muse has my attention as a Graphic Designer who also uses the timeline features of Flash for animation. I think a Flash type of timeline with WYSIWYG design field is the way to go for web design.

As far as design though... I've been really surprised that Adobe hasn't taken Photoshop and Illustrator and combined them into one robust app that handles vector and raster in one place. Photoshop could really use the ease of creating Spot colors that Illustrator is known for and Illustrator could really use the ease of effects that Photoshop is master of.

... As far as design though... I've been really surprised that Adobe hasn't taken Photoshop and Illustrator and combined them into one robust app that handles vector and raster in one place. Photoshop could really use the ease of creating Spot colors that Illustrator is known for and Illustrator could really use the ease of effects that Photoshop is master of.

They are probably worried it would negatively affect their revenue stream.

Personally, and I have no idea of the real world consequences, I really wish Adobe would announce discontinuation for all their products on the Mac, with that space open am sure more companies would spill in with more mac like products to fill the gap.

If the Adobe software is so horrible, wouldn't companies see an opportunity and 'spill' into this space? What happened to the idea of competition? Also, getting software at this level right is tough to do even for Apple (check out http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09...erture_09.html and yes, I know it is Sept 2009 data but does show that Apple didn't just 'spill' into the space and displaced Adobe Lightroom and 3 years in at least, they were, <gasp> losing ground to Adobe). Apple now seems to be facing a growing problem with Final Cut Pro where Adobe could start appealing to more Pro video users if Apple does not really deliver a brilliant update early this year.

If the Adobe software is so horrible, wouldn't companies see an opportunity and 'spill' into this space? What happened to the idea of competition? ...

Adobe essentially has a monopoly. Monopolies stifle competition rather dramatically.

They should have been busted up when they bought up the last few of their competitors, not to integrate them but to kill them. It was really pretty obvious what was going on and there are actually laws against it.

This is what 30-40 years of conservatism, and the promotion of pure anarchy and barbarism (which is bizarrely referred to as "the free market") in the USA, has done for you.

They should have been busted up when they bought up the last few of their competitors, not to integrate them but to kill them. It was really pretty obvious what was going on and there are actually laws against it.

As far as I know, they only bought one competitor, Macromedia, whose primary product was Flash which nearly everyone on this board has screamed at the top of their lungs is a worthless piece of crap. Every other company Adobe has acquired was in a complementary industry, not a competitor. Even with Macromedia the only competitive apps were Dreamweaver and Fireworks which they didn't kill. Almost everything in CS Suite is built around Postscript which Adobe invented.

And the cloud service will cost a (relative) fortune to use, will be incompatible with all other cloud services you may already be using, and will require you to update all your Creative Suite apps on a yearly cycle at a cost of hundreds of dollars a year. It will also be immensely complicated, be designed to "work for everyone from the casual user to the imaging professional," and thus have an absolutely impenetrable UI that no one will understand.

All these things are a given with Adobe software.

I think you nailed it!

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Adobe essentially has a monopoly. Monopolies stifle competition rather dramatically.

They should have been busted up when they bought up the last few of their competitors, not to integrate them but to kill them. It was really pretty obvious what was going on and there are actually laws against it.

This is what 30-40 years of conservatism, and the promotion of pure anarchy and barbarism (which is bizarrely referred to as "the free market") in the USA, has done for you.

1. So I assume that in countries where there are heavily regulated economies that there are a slew of companies coming out with software to compete with Adobe?
2. 30 or 40 years of conservatism? Democrats held the US House for 40 years till they lost it in 1994 and then regained it in again 2007 only to lose it again last year. It might make more sense to argue that both parties are equally inept or that there has been a general lack of leadership or over sight etc. but to make a blanket statement not supported by the facts is silly. As someone who has lived and worked in 4 different counties before settling in the US, for all of its shortcomings, I proud to live here and thankful for the opportunities afforded to me. As for the barbarism of the free market, it has been a great county to live and work in and last year was our best ever business wise. And if where ever you live and work in the world is great, why not just say that instead of trying to tear down the US with ignorant statements?

Adobe essentially has a monopoly. Monopolies stifle competition rather dramatically.

They should have been busted up when they bought up the last few of their competitors, not to integrate them but to kill them. It was really pretty obvious what was going on and there are actually laws against it.

This is what 30-40 years of conservatism, and the promotion of pure anarchy and barbarism (which is bizarrely referred to as "the free market") in the USA, has done for you.

You can't blame Adobe for being normal in that regard Remember, the US 'Free Market' has a disclaimer on the flip side in tiny print that says Caveat emptor. Heck we even have 4G advertised as being available here when it isn't and no one seems to care.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

As far as I know, they only bought one competitor, Macromedia, whose primary product was Flash which nearly everyone on this board has screamed at the top of their lungs is a worthless piece of crap. Every other company Adobe has acquired was in a complementary industry, not a competitor. Even with Macromedia the only competitive apps were Dreamweaver and Fireworks which they didn't kill. Almost everything in CS Suite is built around Postscript which Adobe invented.

Don't forget Aldus. That resulted in FreeHand being killed off (and ultimately PageMaker come to think of it)

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Adobe is professional software and professional software and services cost money. I would love to own Smoke* but can't afford to drop $12,000 (or whatever the price is now) for it - that does not mean that I have to hate Autodesk, it just means I have to find an alternative (which I did, Adobe After Effects) and deal with the tradeoffs that come with that decision. The two of you obviously don't like Adobe or their software so just don't use it. I am sure that there are people here who can give you alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, some HTLM 5 program that provides the same functionality as Flash, After Effects and if not, just live without it.

Don't forget Aldus. That resulted in FreeHand being killed off (and ultimately PageMaker come to think of it)

I have heard some rumors that John Nack from Adobe has been pushing for them to release the source for FreeHand (again, it was just a rumor). PageMaker deserved to die - Quark had routed Adobe on desktop publishing software and I am glad that they finally responded by releasing InDesign (out of curiosity, what features in PM do you miss that are not in ID?)

Adobe is professional software and professional software and services cost money. I would love to own Smoke* but can't afford to drop $12,000 (or whatever the price is now) for it - that does not mean that I have to hate Autodesk, it just means I have to find an alternative (which I did, Adobe After Effects) and deal with the tradeoffs that come with that decision. The two of you obviously don't like Adobe or their software so just don't use it. I am sure that there are people here who can give you alternatives to Photoshop, Illustrator, some HTLM 5 program that provides the same functionality as Flash, After Effects and if not, just live without it.

I have used all Adobe products since the started with PostScript and still use them all. I was agreeing that they now make overly complex UI and I bet this new venture if it comes to pass will most likely be a pain to use for most.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

I have heard some rumors that John Nack from Adobe has been pushing for them to release the source for FreeHand (again, it was just a rumor). PageMaker deserved to die - Quark had routed Adobe on desktop publishing software and I am glad that they finally responded by releasing InDesign (out of curiosity, what features in PM do you miss that are not in ID?)

Oh I miss nothing really. I just occasionally pine for the old days in general now and then, I was involved with Aldus, Adobe and Apple back in the day in the sales and distribution side and it was a fun time.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Freehand is an odd situation. It is not entirely dead but Adobe really didn't do anything with it either and there may be some copyright issues with the Altsys founders and the programmers they hired to write it. So it languishes in limbo. But that didn't happen until 10 years after Adobe bought Aldus.

Pagemaker was not killed but morphed into inDesign which shares some of the same layout concepts and distinctly different from the Quark box container paradigm. In fact Pagemaker owners received inDesign 1.0 as a free upgrade.

Freehand is an odd situation. It is not entirely dead but Adobe really didn't do anything with it either and there may be some copyright issues with the Altsys founders and the programmers they hired to write it. So it languishes in limbo. But that didn't happen until 10 years after Adobe bought Aldus.

Pagemaker was not killed but morphed into inDesign which shares some of the same layout concepts and distinctly different from the Quark box container paradigm. In fact Pagemaker owners received inDesign 1.0 as a free upgrade.

I have every version of PageMaker including the prerelease betas in a cupboard

I always liked FreeHand, maybe there is a potential for an iPad version

I have a few of the Altsys disks in the same box as PM and a beta PSs too. This makes me want to fire up my SE I know I'd just end up playing Dark Castle though.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

They DO offer affordable versions of their software - Photoshop element is 79.00 after rebate (and more comparable in specs to PM than the full blown Photoshop). and you can buy PS Elements and Premier Elements together for $119 after mail in rebate. If you are using the full version of CS professionally, you can pay the price for it in a couple of weeks with what you earn from it. Probably quicker. If not, you need to spend less time puking and look at your business model.

If the Adobe software is so horrible, wouldn't companies see an opportunity and 'spill' into this space? What happened to the idea of competition? Also, getting software at this level right is tough to do even for Apple (check out http://blogs.adobe.com/jnack/2009/09...erture_09.html and yes, I know it is Sept 2009 data but does show that Apple didn't just 'spill' into the space and displaced Adobe Lightroom and 3 years in at least, they were, <gasp> losing ground to Adobe). Apple now seems to be facing a growing problem with Final Cut Pro where Adobe could start appealing to more Pro video users if Apple does not really deliver a brilliant update early this year.

Point is, there are very nice Mac styled "competing" products, none for Photoshop or Illustrator. I don't think competition does well in this scenario, Illustrator and Photoshop are industry standards, whether they are nice or not. It would not go down well at a company large enough to pull this off, "

"Hey bosses, will you pay for the several years of development for a competing product that has the industry locked up and meshes with other products that have their industry locked up too."

I'm not saying Adobe and their products are hell spawn, directly from satan's own stock of evil software products, just that their is significant room for improvement and it probably wont come from adobe.

Point is, there are very nice Mac styled "competing" products, none for Photoshop or Illustrator. I don't think competition does well in this scenario, Illustrator and Photoshop are industry standards, whether they are nice or not. It would not go down well at a company large enough to pull this off, "

"Hey bosses, will you pay for the several years of development for a competing product that has the industry locked up and meshes with other products that have their industry locked up too."

I'm not saying Adobe and their products are hell spawn, directly from satan's own stock of evil software products, just that their is significant room for improvement and it probably wont come from adobe.

I think you summed my sentiments up in that last paragraph very well

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

I have every version of PageMaker including the prerelease betas in a cupboard

I threw all that stuff out. Funny anecdote: I cleaned out all that old software and put it in a bunch of boxes down at the curb next to the street with a FREE sign on it. Lot of entertainment watching from a window as people would stop by and look. One guy went through every box and selected maybe one or two applications. After about an hour he just put everything, all of it, in the back of his pickup and drove off. The next time I do that, though, I'm going to put it on the other side of the street so people don't get any ideas that there is a lot more inside where that came from.

I threw all that stuff out. Funny anecdote: I cleaned out all that old software and put it in a bunch of boxes down at the curb next to the street with a FREE sign on it. Lot of entertainment watching from a window as people would stop by and look. One guy went through every box and selected maybe one or two applications. After about an hour he just put everything, all of it, in the back of his pickup and drove off. The next time I do that, though, I'm going to put it on the other side of the street so people don't get any ideas that there is a lot more inside where that came from.

We just moved to a smaller house and the wife made me get rid of about seven Macs. I smuggled the SE and the disk in later. shhhh. I wonder if my first edition Microsoft set for Mac is worth anything?

BTW have you played with the Apple ][ and /// emulations on OS X? Pretty cool. I just want a lIsa emulation now.

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"

Point is, there are very nice Mac styled "competing" products, none for Photoshop or Illustrator. I don't think competition does well in this scenario, Illustrator and Photoshop are industry standards, whether they are nice or not. It would not go down well at a company large enough to pull this off, "

"Hey bosses, will you pay for the several years of development for a competing product that has the industry locked up and meshes with other products that have their industry locked up too."

I'm not saying Adobe and their products are hell spawn, directly from satan's own stock of evil software products, just that their is significant room for improvement and it probably wont come from adobe.

Well there is Pixelmator and Opacity. The main reason professionals don't want to switch from PS and IL etc. is that they have to share files with other peers, such as pre-press, printers, ad agencies and magazines, all of which expect the files in Adobe CS for the most part.

Small apps like Pixelmator and Opacity are usually written by one person or a very small team with no venture capital. Photoshop was originally written pretty much by one guy, Thomas Knoll.

Point is, there are very nice Mac styled "competing" products, none for Photoshop or Illustrator. I don't think competition does well in this scenario, Illustrator and Photoshop are industry standards, whether they are nice or not. It would not go down well at a company large enough to pull this off, "

"Hey bosses, will you pay for the several years of development for a competing product that has the industry locked up and meshes with other products that have their industry locked up too."

I'm not saying Adobe and their products are hell spawn, directly from satan's own stock of evil software products, just that their is significant room for improvement and it probably wont come from adobe.

1. I also don't think it would go down really well with you or your bosses if Adobe decided to drop all mac support which is what the original poster had suggested he would like to see.
2. You seem to be arguing that Adobe has a lot of room for improvement but at the same time the competition can't seem to come up with a way to improve it or overcome the hurdle that the software is an industry standard. If it is that bad and you went to your boss and said, "This piece of open source / $30.00 piece of software has everything I have ever wanted, they add new features in every time I suggest them and will save us paying thousands of dollars to Adobe for each suite or upgrade, I would be surprised if they said no.
3. Is there room for improvement? Sure. Our designers and video guys will complain occasionally about something or another at times but truthfully, we did not upgrade many suites to CS5 as CS4 seems to do everything we need right now. If you have a suggestion, instead of talking generally about significant room for improvement, send Adobe specific feedback on what you would like to see added or changed.

Well there is Pixelmator and Opacity. The main reason professionals don't want to switch from PS and IL etc. is that they have to share files with other peers, such as pre-press, printers, ad agencies and magazines, all of which expect the files in Adobe CS for the most part.

Small apps like Pixelmator and Opacity are usually written by one person or a very small team with no venture capital. Photoshop was originally written pretty much by one guy, Thomas Knoll.

The 'prepress' side are usually many version behind in software and you have to save as early versions. Perhaps changing to new software with the ability to save as legacy file formats would be work plus EPSF or PDF are pretty universal as a final format, who wants them to be able to open and modify anyway? .

From Apple ][ - to new Mac Pro I've owned them all.Long on AAPL so biased"Google doesn't sell you anything, Google just sells you!"